OP, do you perhaps have any other photos of said beast?

That's a mature Sika too txtrophy. The OP deer is no more than 3 and probably 2. Could be red/elk x, but I really think it's a Barasingha. UNLESS, the camera angle makes the animal look much larger than it really is. In that case, I'd vote Nippon Sika, too.

sika

in the OP the panel appears to be hog panel @ 34". The animals back is above that, but it's not way above. It's large, but not huge. I'm guessing +-40" to the top of the back. I wanna say Sika, but it also looks a bit lanky instead of solid and filled out like most Sika I've seen.

Ask the confused buck behind him... By the looks of it he could tell you what it had for dinner the night before

Sika,,killed one just like it about 10 years ago. Great venison !

It would be a dead one

Those things are nasty, mess up your deer herd too.....let me come take it off the property for you. I won't charge you at all and I will dispose of it properly, THF deal for a buddy.

That's not a sika, not completely. Looks very much like a Barasingha, from the elongated legs and rump-up physique. Also, note that the ears on your particular animal are more rounded, like a barasingha's, rather than like the traditional ellipse-shape of most other deer species, including sika.

VERY interesting! Respectfully....I think all of you are wrong. It is definitely NOT a Sika, Red Deer, Elk, or Barasingha.

The giveaway is the face, ears, and antler configuration. My opinion is that it is either a Sambar Deer or Rusa Deer (they can interbreed). I'm leaning toward Sambar due to the large size. Either way....I've never seen or heard of a free-ranging Sambar or Rusa in Texas. They are expensive animals ($5k-$7k) and it definitely escaped someone's high fenced place. It also appears to be a young one. For the record, both Sambar and Rusa grow antlers that look similar in configuration to Axis....with only 3 points on each side typically.

Also, the deer in the photo has very pronounced antler pedicles....(the area underneath the bases where the skull/hair actually protrudes upward). Only a few species have large extended pedicles like that, and Sambar/Rusa are two of them. (Others are Axis, Muntjac, and Hog Deer)

Definitely a Sika and a nice one at that!

I'm going with Sambar 100%

Sika for sure

Rusa Deer

Food deer.

Sambar

Chupacabra...